Canada begins extradition process in case of Huawei executive

OTTAWA - The federal Justice Department is giving the go-ahead for an extradition case to proceed against Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou, who is wanted in the United States on fraud allegations.

The decision is a formality and allows a judge to hear arguments about whether to grant the American request that she stand trial there.

Ultimately, Justice Minister David Lametti must decide if Meng is extradited, which is why his department says in a release that he will not comment on the facts of the case.

The case heads back to the British Columbia Supreme Court on Wednesday.

The Chinese government has demanded Meng's immediate release and has criticized Canada for acting on what it sees as a politically motivated extradition request by the U.S. -- but Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has maintained his country is simply following the rule of law.

Chinese foreign-ministry spokesman Lu Kang was asked today whether he thought the Trudeau government is taking an inconsistent approach in the cases of Meng and SNC-Lavalin -- and he responded that he thinks fair-minded people can tell right from wrong.